Standing seams are often used to interconnect metal panels to form the roof of a building or other structure. The seam is created by bending and profiling together adjacent side edges of two metal sheets to form an upwardly extending portion that interlocks the sheets as it extends the width or length of the roof surface. The head or uppermost portion of the seam may be formed in a variety of shapes depending upon the manner in which the sheets are profiled together. For example, the head of a standing seam may be L-shaped, T-shaped, rounded, doubled over, or have some other profile correlating to the nature of end use.
It is desirable to attach a structure to a standing seam, especially in the case of roofing. Rooftops are obvious locations for mounting solar panel arrays, walkways, plumbing, wiring or other ancillary structures including but not limited to snow catchers, ice dams, etc.
When attaching a structure to a standing seam, drilling or penetration of the seam is avoided because doing so can affect the life of the roof. Clamp assemblies that do not penetrate a standing seam are known; however, these devices use bolts that are tightened directly against the seam, which can damage the seam and ultimately affect the integrity of the roof. Prior art clamping assemblies also produce an uneven clamping pressure that is not evenly distributed against the seam, eventually leading to clamp or roof failure. Many other roof clamps are known, but in each of these cases the device is complicated and difficult to install quickly.